"So Sam knows? And Kurt? And Tina, and her boyfriend Mike?"

Buffy nodded reluctantly and took a sip of her milkshake. It was a rare warm, sunny day in Lima, Ohio, and she wanted to enjoy the weather in the courtyard with Billy Fordham, not talking about her not-so-secret identity.

"Even that Rachel girl? Really?" Ford raised an eyebrow, "I mean, no offense, but she seems like she talks a lot, so can she really keep a secret that big?"

Buffy nodded, and looked out at the other students, leaving school at the end of the day to enjoy the sun. "Of course she can. Rachel's an invaluable member of the scooby gang."

"Scooby gang?" Ford smirked, "Who came up with that?"

"I don't remember. Artie, I think."

"Who's Artie? Another person who knows?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and blushed. "Okay, yes, I win the gold medal in the Worst Secret Keeping Slayer awards. Still, you have to keep quiet about this stuff."

"Hey, Killer," Holly Holliday strolled by in a loose, white blouse, "Enjoying the weather?"

"Uh, yeah," Buffy squinted up at her substitute watcher, "Ford, this is Ms. Holliday. Ms. Holliday, this is my friend Ford."

"Call me Holly," she winked, "So, Buffy, I was thinking training tonight, for... chess club? You know. Strengthen your queen. Kick some ass with your knight. Pawns and 2B and all that jazz."

Buffy smirked. "Ford knows, Holly."

"Thank God," Holly pretended to wipe her brow in relief, "Hold up, though. Isn't the Dub-C super strict about the secret identity?"

"Well, sure, but some people are going to find out eventually, right?" Buffy shrugged.

"Sure," Holly shrugged, "Unless you're just telling your story all over town to impress cute boys, huh? The pretty-lipped blonde? The skinny Asian?"

Buffy chuckled nervously. "Uh, no. Don't worry. I didn't tell Ford. He knew."

"Aint' no thang," Holly shrugged, "So, training tonight?"

"Ugh, I totally would," Buffy frowned, "But, see, Ford just moved here and I wanted to show him all over Lima-"

"Say no more," Holly waved her hand, "I'll be out your hair, Buffcake. Enjoy!"

"I could really get used to her," Buffy shook her head as Holly Holliday strutted away.

She and Ford strolled through all of Lima's hotspots and circled back to the school's campus once again as the sun went down.

"I think you've seen pretty much everything of interest in Lima," Buffy shrugged at his side and pulled her sweater tighter around her as the looming night brought a cold wind.

"Well, Lima's really..."

"Feel free to say dull."

"Okay. Dull's good," Ford said as two dark figures caught their eyes, a man and a flaxen-haired woman, rushing into McKinley High, "Or maybe not so dull. Are those vampires?"

"Must be the weather," Buffy groaned, and took out a stake and a wooden cross from the inside of her thick sweater, handing Ford the polished cross.

He gingerly took a stake out of his back pocket and gave Buffy a proud, toothy grin.

"Stay close to me," she said, reluctant to have her friend subject to this kind of danger. It was only a matter of time, she thought to herself, They all have to face it at some point.

The two of them rushed up to the entrance of McKinley, keeping their breath quiet and steady, listening intently for an ominous noise that would lead them to the vampires.

"Maybe they were just passing through," said Ford, when they couldn't hear a thing.

"I don't think so," Buffy said, and gasped just as the blond vampire jumped out at her, attacking from behind with her twisted fangs bared.

Buffy threw her off with little trouble, until the male vampire approached, knocking Buffy down the patch of grass that lay below McKinley's entrance. With Buffy distracted at a distance, Ford gathered his strength and pounced the blond vampire, holding his sharpened stake to her chest.

"You've got one chance to live," he said to her in a hushed tone, "Tell me what I want to know and I'll let you go."

By the time Buffy bested the male vampire and turned back, rushing to Ford's side, the blond vampire was gone.

"Where's the other one?" she asked breathlessly as Ford kneeled on the ground, stake in hand.

"Killed her," Ford said, coughing into the crook of his elbow, "I just killed her and she turned to dust. It was... amazing.

xxx

"This was the only address I could find. The Sunset Club," said Tina, looking down at the address she had scrawled on a scrap of paper.

She shivered in the passenger's seat of Mike's father's Honda as Mike pulled up to a row of abandoned warehouses in Lima's ghostly old industrial area. Evil always seemed to cumulate here. In the backseat, Sam eagerly pressed his nose against the window, until the car stopped, and he hopped out.

"I still didn't find anything incriminating," said Tina, as she and Mike left the car and tried to keep up with Sam's brisk pace.

"He left no paper trail. No records. That's incriminating enough," shrugged Sam.

"Yeah, I have a feeling that Trouty Mouth is right," said Mike as they approached the warehouse entrance.

"Could you not call me that?" asked Sam as he knocked on the door, hearing muffled movement from inside. A slot on the door slid open and a shifty set of eyes appeared, looking them up and down.

"We're friends of Ford's," Tina said on the spot, and the door was quickly opened for them.

They entered, without a word, and speechlessly observed the spectacle inside. The abandoned warehouse was decorated with ghostly white tablecloths and flickering wall candles, and a crowd of teenagers filled the space, milling around and chatting, all the while looking broody and tormented, dressed in Victorian garb and gothic accessories that reminded Tina a lot of herself. Mike and Sam looked uncomfortable as they stepped into the crowd of young adults, the room full of the sound of 90s rock bands. The three of them gaped at the strange hangout, coffins balanced up against the walls and old TV screens in a couple of corners, silently playing a black and white horror film.

"Great outfit!" said a girl, and Tina, Mike and Sam whipped around to see her.

There were four girls about their age, all dressed in dark clothes adorned with chains and metal studs. Tina looked down at her black frilly lolita jacket.

"Me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. She'd never received a compliment on her clothes before, unless it came from her parents.

"Yeah," nodded the girl who'd spoken before, a fresh-faced skinny blonde who looked like a shapeless twig in a black leather jumpsuit, her lips the color of frosted sugar plums. Out of the four girls who loomed over them, the blond was the only one who was smiling. "Your friends look like newbies, though. I can tell."

"Uh, no. We come here all the time," Sam put his hands on his hips unconvincingly.

"Don't be ashamed. It's cool that you're open to it," said the blond, and looked back at her three cohorts, "We're The Skanks."

"The Skanks?" Mike raised an eyebrow.

"I'm Sheila," frowned one of the girls, her dark brown eyes heavy with eyeliner.

"Ronnie," nodded a tall, heavy girl with a leather driver's cap on her head.

"They call me The Mack," said a short, pretty, brown-haired girl.

"Don't you go to our school?" asked Tina, recognising the snooty pout.

"From time to time," shrugged The Mack.

"You're welcome to stay," said the blond, "My name is Chanterelle, and we welcome anyone who wants to join The Lonely Ones."

Tina's shoulders slumped when she realized what was going on.

"The Lonely Ones?" questioned Sam.

"Vampires," replied Tina.

"Oh..." said Mike, "We usually call them the Evil, Pointy, Bitey Ones."

"So many people have that misconception," Chanterelle shook her head, "But those who walk with the night don't wish to harm us. They are creatures above us. Exalted."

"That's stupid," Tina couldn't help but say under her breath.

She had a morbid fascination with the occult, yes, but that does not mean she was about to idealize undead beings of evil. They had already killed a number of her classmates.

"You don't have to be so confrontational about it," Chanterelle said softly.

"Unless you want me to bust your ass," sneered Sheila.

"It's okay, Sheila," Chanterelle waved her hand and turned her attention to Tina, "Other viewpoints than yours may be valid, you know."

The Skanks stalked off, throwing them nasty glares.

"Tina, what are you doing?" Sam hissed, "Now no-one's going to talk to us."

"I've seen enough," Tina shook her head, "I used to hang out with these kind of people in middle school. They're all just posers. They don't know anything about vampires. What they are. How they live. How they dress."

Mike sighed as he led them back towards the entrance. "Why would Ford be hanging out with a bunch of vampire wannabes?"

"Something's definitely strange about him," said Tina, "You're right about that."

xxx

"Ms. Holliday?" Buffy knocked lightly on Mr. Schuester's office door, after hours.

Thankfully, Holly Holliday was still there, holding her iPhone intently in front of her.

"Buffy!" Holly exclaimed, setting the phone down, "What's up?"

"I hope I'm not bothering you," said Buffy, stepping inside and closing the door behind her, "I need your help."

"I thought you'd never ask," Holly smiled smugly, "What's the problem?"

"I don't really know if it's a problem yet. It just seemed kind of weird," said Buffy, and recounted to Holly Holliday about her run-in with vampires on campus.

"I guess that is pretty weird," said Holly, sitting back in her chair and pressing a fingernail against her chin.

Buffy leaned against the sharp edge of Will's desk. "They normally stick to the graveyards, or back alleys. If they were on the high school campus, it means that they were here with a purpose," said Buffy, absentmindedly rummaging through files and photographs that were in a mess on Mr. Schue's desk.

"Mm hm," agreed Holly, "That means we have to find out what that purpose is. Where's your friend?"

"I sent him home," said Buffy, a large square photograph catching her eyes, "Who's this?"

Buffy was struck by the image of a gaunt and yet hauntingly beautiful woman, her raven hair flowing down and shaping her narrow, pallid face, and a thick white gown draped over her frail body.

"Beats me," shrugged Holly Holliday, "I meant to go through all that junk, but I got distracted by Angry Birds. Nerd alert, right?"

"Right," Buffy nodded, distracted, turning the photo around to see that it'd been scrawled on in pencil, saying 'Drusilla - Sired 19th century', "She's a vampire that Mr. Schuester was studying. Why would he be studying one old vampire?"

"I don't know," Holly shrugged, and rose from her seat, "But we can find out. What is a watcher if not watchful? I'll check the books."

Holly moved from behind her desk and skipped to the door in her black heels, sticking her head out to check that no one else was around, when suddenly a blond vampire, the same from before, loomed forward out of the shadows and shoved Holly hard, right into Buffy and knocking down the two women like dominoes, snatching a book from one of Mr. Schuester's shelves. With a book tucked under her arm, the vampire sprinted away, out of sight. Holly sat up, winded, and stretched out her hand to Buffy.

"Are you okay?" Holly asked breathlessly, "She took a book. At least that means someone in school is reading."

Buffy simply blinked in the direction the vampire escaped. "He said he killed it..." she muttered to herself, "That's the vampire Ford said he killed."

xxx

Under the dim light of a cold, abandoned warehouse basement, the only thing that shone was the gold gilded bird cage.

"You sing the sweetest little song," sang Drusilla, looming over the bird cage with wide, blood red eyes, a white nightgown hanging off of her skeletal body, "Will you sing for me, hm? Don't you love me anymore?"

Drusilla blinked at her unmoving pet as she felt someone approach behind her.

"Darling," said Spike, "I heard a funny thing just now. Lucius tells me that you went out on a hunt the other night."

"My tummy was growly," said Drusilla, looking sheepishly down at the ground like a young girl, "And you were out."

Spike bristled as Drusilla whistled to her stiff bird. "Did you, um, meet anyone? Anyone interesting. Like... him?"

"Angel?"

"Yeah," Spike sighed and gave Drusilla a peck on the forehead, "So, what might you guys have talked about, then? Old times? Childhood pranks? It's a little off, you two being so friendly. You know I don't like it. I don't like him being here, in this town. This was supposed to be our town, not his."

"I'll give you seeds if you sing," Drusilla cooed to the bird.

"The bird's dead, Dru," Spike grimaced, "You didn't feed it and now it's dead, just like the last one."

Drusilla cowered away, pouting and whining to herself.

Spike sighed to himself. "I'm sorry, baby. I'm a bad, rude man. I just don't like you going out, that's all. You are weak. Would you like a new bird? One that's not dead?"

Spike linked his fingers through Drusilla's, winning a bewitching smile from her, when someone else entered the scene and ruined their moment.

"This is awesome," a young human boy said, making Spike grimace, "I would totally live here."

Spike snapped to the entrance, where a teenage boy stood, no older than the slayer, with dark hair and a naive grin.

"Do I have anyone on watch here?" Spike complained aloud, "Call security, people. Are you all asleep? Or did we finally find a restaurant that delivers?"

"I know who you are," said the boy, his breath shaky as he stepped forward.

"Yeah, I know who I am, too. So what?"

"I came looking for you. Spike."

"Well, you've got a real death wish," said Spike, when in the corner of his eye, one of his minions - the blond - darted forward, holding out the book he desired. He took the old parchment in his hand, impressed. "This is great. So, how did you find me?"

"It doesn't matter," said the boy, "I've got something to offer you... I'm pretty sure this is the part where you take out a watch and say I've got thirty seconds to convince you not to kill me. It's traditional."

Spike closed the book and stepped forward quickly. "I don't go much for tradition," he walked over and grabbed the boy by the ear, until Drusilla approached him and laid a tentative hand on his shoulder.

"Wait, love," she said.

Spike let go reluctantly. "Well?"

"Oh, come on," said the boy, rubbing his sore ear, "Say it. It's no fun if you don't say it."

Spike rolled his eyes. "You've got thirty seconds to convince me not to kill you."

"Yes! See, this is the best. I want to be like you. A vampire."

"I've known you for two minutes and I can't stand you. I don't really feature you living forever. Can I eat him now, love?"

Drusilla shook her head.

"Well, feature this. I'm offering you a trade. You make me a vampire, and I'll give you the slayer."

xxx

"Buffy? Can I come in?"

Buffy looked up from her cold tea on her kitchen island counter to see Sam hovering at her ajar back door. She perked up a little at the sight of his warm if tentative grin.

"Sure," she tried on a weary smile.

"We need to talk," said Sam, "It's about your friend Ford. He's not what he seems."

Buffy sighed and dumped her tea into the sink as Sam came forward and leaned against the counter.

"Why can't you just get along? Why don't you like him?"

"It's not about that," Sam frowned, "Tina put his name through her computer-"

"Tina?" Buffy raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"She found this address, we checked it out with Mike-"

"And Mike?" Buffy spluttered, "Wow. Everybody's in. It's like a great, big, exciting conspiracy."

"What are you talking about?" Sam furrowed his brow.

"I'm talking about the people I trust!" snapped Buffy, "Ford is my friend, but everybody else decides to do recon behind my back?"

"Buffy, I did this for you. I didn't trust him," Sam shook his head, "And I was right not to. He's apart of some weirdo secret society. Tina says they're vampire worshipers."

Buffy breathed in deeply. "Does that mean...?"

"That he's evil?" Sam frowned, sympathetically, "I don't know. I just know that you can't trust him."

Buffy leaned hard against the counter, staring out of her kitchen window. Sam rested his hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged him off.

"Don't," she shook her head, "You guys went behind my back. Just please... leave."

With his shoulders drooping, Sam left her alone.

xxx

Quinn shut the sliding door behind her, still in her pyjamas in the bright, chilly, early morning as she stepped outside, cellphone in hand. A tarp covered the Lopez's lagoon-shaped pool and dew slowly dripped off of the herbs that Sofia had planted earlier in the year. The Lopez's back yard - Quinn's back yard - always had a calming effect on her, especially in the morning. She felt like she could breath, which was why she chose to escape out here to make her phone call. Her hands shook as she tapped the number into her phone and she felt her throat closing up as she held it to her ear and heard it ring. The ringing stopped, and it felt like an hour before she heard a, "Hello?"

"Hello," she said automatically, every planned and rehearsed word leaving her mouth.

"...Who's calling?"

"Oh," Quinn choked out, "This is Quinn. Quinn Fabray."

A silence fell over the other end. "Lucy," he finally replied.

"Jesse," she said, her wavering voice holding some sort of tone of familiarity.

"It's been a long time."

Quinn pursed her lips in a frown. "Yeah. How are you?" she asked lamely.

She hated the way she sounded; so shy and weak. She'd known Jesse St. James for too long to feel so inferior to him. She'd known him before he was ever Rachel Berry's boyfriend. When he was just a kid.

"Now Lucy, I know you didn't call just to ask how I am," she could almost feel Jesse grinning, "Why, after all these years, have you finally decided to start talking to little old me again? Have your powers been waning?"

Quinn sighed. "No," she said, goosebumps rising on her arms, "It's not about magic."

"Then what?" Jesse said impatiently.

Quinn hesitated before replying, "I think we should meet in person. I... need to ask you some things and I need to know that you're telling the truth."

"I'm in Los Angeles, Lucy. What could be so important?"

Quinn sighed. "It's about my daughter. I know that you know something that could help me find her."

"Lucy," Jesse chuckled, "Why would I know anything about your bastard child?"

Quinn flinched at his words. He always had a way of being so casually cruel.

"I know you're involved, Jesse, and that can't be good," Quinn shook her head to herself, "Come to Lima this weekend."

"Why should I? What's in it for me?"

Quinn bit her lip. "What do you want?"

There was a long silence on the other end before Jesse replied. "I'll think about it on the way."

xxx

Even the good weather didn't make Buffy feel much better as she sat on the steps of the school courtyard during lunch, her head in her hands, feeling a little forlorn. She'd always felt a little isolated from other people, but right now felt like a low. Rachel was too busy with her new couples' counselling sessions to be there for a rant sesh, and the rest of Buffy's friends were doing investigations behind her back. Well, the ones who weren't involved in demon worship.

"Buffy," Ford called, squinting against the sun as he approached, "I had a great time last night. Well, an interesting time."

"I'm glad," said Buffy, rising from the low steps.

"Do you want to go out again tonight?"

"Not busy," Buffy shrugged.

"I sort of had an idea, but it's a secret. I kind of want to surprise you."

"I like surprises."

"Can you meet me here?"

"Sure."

"At nine?"

"At nine."

Ford smiled and leaned in close. "It's gonna be fun," he said, and walked away, leaving a chill to creep over Buffy's skin.

"Buffy?"

Buffy whirled around to see Tina rushing over to her in a gray petticoat, with Mike trailing along behind her, looking guilty.

"Yeah?" asked Buffy, her voice low.

"Did Sam-?"

"He told me everything."

Tina sighed, ashamed. "I'm sorry. When Sam came to my room, he was just so concerned for you."

Mike leaned forward. "I told them to tell you," he said.

Buffy cracked a small smile. "Thanks."

"Did you find out what Ford is up to?" asked Mike.

Buffy frowned tightly. "I will," she said determinedly, and strode away.

"I feel so bad for her," Tina turned to Mike and said softly.

Mike raised an eyebrow. "So, Sam was in your bedroom?"

"Ours is a forbidden love," Tina nodded, and watched Buffy as she walked out of sight.

xxx

Ford's feet clanged against the metal steps down to the Sunset Club, where only a select few of the patrons still roamed. The Skanks waited for him at the bottom of the staircase, sleepy smiles on their faces as he approached.

"Chanterelle, is everything ready?" he asked, shrugging off his coat and tossing it onto a dusty coffee table.

"Of course," she smiled, "Is it time? Tonight?"

"Are you nervous?" Ford grinned.

"Yes. No. I'm ready for the change. Do you really think they'll bless us?"

Ford moved to a long, narrow table and poured himself a goblet of wine. "I know they will," he smirked.

"What about your friends?" asked Ronnie, "Are they coming?"

"What are you talking about?" Ford blinked.

"Your friends. They came last night. Two guys and a girl," said Ronnie.

"One was mean," pouted Chanterelle.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Ford snapped at The Skanks.

"It's going to be alright, isn't it? They're not gonna let us down?" asked Chanterelle.

Ford sighed and gripped his temple. "It's gonna be fine."

"I need them to bless me."

"It's gonna be fine!"

"No, it's really not," said Buffy.

Ford and The Skanks looked up to the entrance, where Buffy leaned over the balcony, a bitter frown on her face.

"It kind of draughty in here," Ford muttered to The Skanks, and Sheila hurried off to secure the exits.

"I'm sorry, Ford," sighed Buffy as she made her way down the metal staircase, "I just couldn't wait til tonight. I'm rash and impulsive. It's a flaw."

"We all have flaws," Ford frowned as he walked forward, meeting her at the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm still a little fuzzy on what yours is. I think it has to do with being a lying scumbag."

Ford smirked. "Everybody lies."

Buffy shook her head. "What do you want, Ford? What's this all about?"

"I don't think you'd understand."

"I don't need to understand. I just need to know."

"I'm gonna be one of them," he said blithely.

Buffy furrowed her brow. "You want to be a vampire?"

"I'm going to."

"Vampires are a little picky about who they change ov-... You were gonna offer them a trade," Buffy frowned, the truth sinking in.

"I don't think I want to talk anymore," Ford frowned, clenching his jaw.

Buffy lunged forward, gripping Ford by his neck and pinning him against the wall as the others watched in fear.

"Yeah, well I'm still feeling a little chatty. You were gonna give them me! Tonight!"

"Yes," Ford choked out from under her grip.

"You didn't know I'd figure it out."

"Actually," said Ford, "I was counting on it."

Buffy let go of his quickly as he snickered at her. "What's supposed to happen tonight?" she asked.

"This is so cool," Ford laughed, "Just like it played in my head. The part where you ask me what's supposed to happen. It's already happening."

As soon as Buffy heard the booming, ominous sound of the door being shut, she rushed up the stairs and through herself against the exit, to no avail.

"Once it's closed, it can only be opened from the outside," Ford smiled, still at the bottom floor of the club, "As soon as the sun sets, they'll be coming."

"Ford, if these people are still around when they get here-" began Buffy.

"We'll be changed," said The Mack, "All of us."

"We're going to ascend to a new level of consciousness," Chanterelle chirped excitedly, "Become like them. Like the Lonely Ones."

"This is the end, Buffy," said Ford, "No one gets out of here alive."

Buffy rushed down the staircase, determined. "There's gotta be another way out of here."

Ford smirked as she searched frantically. "I knew I wasn't going to able to overpower you, but this is three feet of solid concrete."

"At least let the other people go," Buffy pleaded.

"Why are you fighting this?" frowned Chanterelle, "It's what we want."

"It's our chance for immortality," smirked Ronnie.

"This is a beautiful day. Can't you see that?" Chanterelle shook her head.

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "What I see is that right after the sun goes down, Spike and all his friends are gonna be pigging out at the all you can eat moron bar."

"Okay, I think we should gag her," frowned Sheila.

"I think you should try."

"She's a non-believer," said The Mack, "She taints us."

"I am trying to save you! You are playing in some serious traffic here. Do you understand that? You're going to die, and the only hope you have is getting out of this pit right now, and my God, could you have dumber outfit?"

A ringing sounded from Ford's pocket, and he took out his phone and silenced it. "Six twenty-seven," he said to himself, "Sunset."